Major Projects Division of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board here on Saturday reached a milestone in the execution of the Pilloor III drinking water supply project.
The TWAD Board is executing the project to deliver 178 million litres water a day till 2035 and upto 318 million litres a day till 2050 for Coimbatore Corporation.
On Saturday, the Division completed the tunnelling work in Kattan hills to lay a pipeline to deliver water from one side of the hill to another.
The Major Projects Division had completed digging the tunnel measuring 900m in length, 10m in width and six m in height, sources said. The Division had started the ₹ 61.35 crore work in February 2021.
In the coming weeks, the Division would start the work to strengthen the tunnel and build support structures for the pipeline to be placed inside. It would lay a mild steel pipe measuring 1,813mm, which is at least twice as big as the pipeline used in the Pilloor I and II schemes.
The sources explained that the TWAD Board went in for a second pipeline because it shared the existing pipeline inside nearby tunnel with the Coimbatore Corporation to convey water for the Pilloor I and II schemes.
If the city were to get additional water under the Pilloor III scheme, an additional tunnel had become a necessity, and therefore it was decided to dig a new tunnel in Kattan hills.
The Board was also in the process of acquiring 123.23 acre to lay pipeline to deliver the water promised to the Corporation. The Pilloor III project is expected to meet the city’s drinking water needs till 2050.
